Arvind Kunte: Generates Rs 10 cr from a loss-making firm which he took over at 64

After a career spanning a variety of job profiles, Arvind Kunte took over a loss-making freight company at the age of 64 and turned it around—the firm generated Rs 10 crore last year.

Age is just a number. The pithy adage is mouthed often enough by people, but Mumbai-based Arvind Kunte has lived it out over a career spanning half a century. So he is not mouthing platitudes when he says that one should continue to create value regardless of age as long as he enjoys good health. Kunte picked up his first job in 1963 when he was just 18 years old.

"The day I completed my SSC exams, I bagged a job as an apprentice at Garware Plastics, which manufactured plastic wires and cables. I was employed on a daily wage of Rs 1," reminisces the 68-year-old.

Over the next year, he job hopped twice, eventually bagging a financially more respectable Rs 150-a-month job with a light bulb manufacturing company, Bijlee Products. "When my company shifted base to Pune to save on costs, I decided to hang on to the job and move as well," says Kunte.

According to him, he never stuck to one place for long because he was eager to learn new things with each new job. So, in 1968, Kunte switched jobs again, and joined a company, JJ Glass, in Pune. It was here that he first faced language problem since he had studied in a Marathi medium school. "The company was run by a retired high court judge, who communicated in English. Since I was not conversant with the language, I could not understand what he said, and this got me into a lot of trouble," he says.

Once Kunte was asked to book a flight and since he could not understand the instructions, he goofed up on the travel dates. As a result, the judge ended up missing his flight and an important meeting. "I was scolded severely the next day. I even thought of quitting my job, but my boss' secretary decided to help me learn English," he says.

Within a span of six months, Kunte managed to master the language, but as the company did not have much to offer in terms of growth, he put in his papers in 1970. For 21 years, Kunte worked with several companies in the manufacturing vertical, learning how to operate all kinds of lathe and cutting machines in the bargain. "I was also involved in excise work for the organisations that I worked for," he adds.

In 1991, when the company he was working for shut down due to labour problems, Kunte got a chance to switch career tracks yet again. He returned to Mumbai, where he owned a home, and soon bagged an opportunity to work for an export firm, Rushabh Instrumentation. "It was a new challenge for me as I had worked only with manufacturing companies till that time," he explains. Three years later, Kunte found himself switching jobs yet again, joining ATC Shipping and Clearing. With each new company he joined, his experience and horizons widened.

It was from here that he retired in 2005, at the age of 60. However, hanging in the boots did not spell the end of his working life. "I had several options. I could have taken up a job as a consultant or start my own consultancy business," he says. However, a friend offered him a job as a liaison manager with an Italian company, JAS Forwarding. "Accountancy was one area in which I had no experience. So, during this stint, I also got involved with the company's finance and accounting process. I quit the company in 2009," he says.

At this point, he decided to start his own excise consultancy firm, but through sheer providence, landed another interesting opportunity. "Through one of my contacts, I learnt about a freight company that was up for sale as it could not handle the mounting losses. So I talked to two mutual friends and decided to buy the company by pooling in our resources," he explains. "The company had an annual turnover of just over Rs 40 lakh since the owner had decided not to continue with it. So, we decided to take up the challenge," he adds.

Kunte and his partners shelled out Rs 15 lakh each to buy the company and took over the bank loan and other debts. Through his contacts in various fields, Kunte managed to generate a lot of business and the company, Anchor Freight Services, was back in business. "Last year, it clocked a revenue of around `10 crore," he says. Entrepreneurship has also worked out well for his wallet— he takes home a monthly salary of nearly `1.25 lakh.

With his five-year-old business doing so well, Kunte claims he is ready to take up an entirely new assignment now. "I am beginning to feel restless now that I don't have any other challenge. If I get another opportunity to take over another company or assignment, I would surely take it up since my partners are running the current business in an efficient manner," he explains.

His family is well-settled, so Kunte can afford to take the risk of testing new waters. In 2001, he even helped his son set up a plastic water tank manufacturing business with Rs 19 lakh. The business is currently generating a net profit of Rs 2 lakh a month. As for Kunte, he has clearly come a long way from the time he earned Rs 1 a day and is keen to sniff out new opportunities, lay his hand on fresh challenges.

Consultancies you can start

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